Supreme Court's Role in Environmental Governance
The Hydropower Moratorium
Following the June 2013 Kedarnath disaster, which killed over 5,000 people and was attributed in part to infrastructure disruption from hydropower construction, the Supreme Court imposed a moratorium on environmental clearances for new hydro projects in Uttarakhand. The Court directed the MoEFCC to constitute expert bodies to study the ecological carrying capacity of the basin.
- A 2014 expert committee chaired by environmentalist Ravi Chopra concluded that hydropower projects worsened disaster impacts and recommended against 24 proposed projects.
- A 2015 committee under IIT-Kanpur's Professor Vinod Tare warned of serious ecological impacts from several projects, particularly those affecting minimum environmental flows.
- The concept of "minimum environmental flow" (e-flow) — the minimum volume of water that must remain in a river at all times to maintain ecological function — is central to the ongoing litigation.
- In 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court both separately addressed e-flow norms for the Ganga, eventually leading to a notification fixing e-flow standards.
● Tracked since February 26, 2026 · last seen May 22, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
See it in today’s brief.
Daily current affairs with every static concept explained in place.
Read the daily brief